PRO-LIFE BATTLE

10.18.12

Ireland’s First Abortion Clinic Opens

Peter Muhly / AFP

The first abortion clinic in Ireland opened its doors Thursday and was greeted by more than 200 protesters, who gathered outside the building waving signs that called to “keep Ireland abortion free.” The Marie Stopes family planning center is located in Belfast, and will offer the abortion pill to women who are less than nine weeks’ pregnant—but only if they are at risk of death or long-term health damage. The restrictions reflect the laws of the very Catholic Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, where abortion is illegal in all other cases. It’s estimated that 5,000 Irish women travel to Britain for legal abortions each year.